Chapter 189: The Dark Horse
I watched the orc’s eyes widen as he looked between me and Da’kea. Was it the smartest thing in the world to admit that I had mated with a species that didn’t have mates? Probably not. Give I give a fuck? Definitely not.
"My apologies, hunter," said the orc, his head dipping in a bow. "Mates are sacred to the Uugazts, and an insult to them is often met with brutal violence."
Da’kea nodded his head, accepting the apology, but I could not hold back my laugh. "Are you really calling me out for not being more violent?" I asked incredulously.
"Of course not," stuttered the orc, and I could see a hint of a blush dotting his cheeks. "I am simply expressing my gratitude that you were not more... inclined to violence."
"Luckily for you, I woke up on the right side of the bed," I said with a shrug. But I still had a hundred things on my list, and orcs were not one of them. "I am going to assume that you have contacted me in the hopes of making a mutually beneficial deal?" I asked, no longer beating around the bush. We had danced back and forth, and now this conversation needed to be over and done with.
"Yes," he said concisely.
"Perfect, then I am willing to give you all my protection and the ability to return to your planets once the Alliance has been destroyed. In exchange, you keep working for the Alliance to the best of your ability. Deal?"
The orc looked at me as if trying to figure out my angle. Unfortunately for him, there was no way he was going to be able to.
"That seems like either way, we win," stated the orc head, his orange eyes piercing into me. "So when is the ax going to fall?"
"If you are lucky? Never," I answered with a shrug.
"And if I’m not?"
"Then it will drop when you reveal that you work for me at the same time," I said with a smile. "I want a mole. Someone that I can put into their organization and be able to feed me information from the inside."
"If that is what you are looking for, then I am afraid that I am not the best partner for you," admitted the male in front of me. "We are never given information of any significance. Mostly, we are asked to provide security for supply runs and missions."
"That makes it even better. Both times they tried to trap me, they used your guys. I want to know what you are doing and when. That is all. Hell, you can even fight us if we show up so that you don’t blow your cover."
"I still don’t understand how it is beneficial for you," muttered the orc.
"And that is what is bothering you?" I asked. This time my head was the one cocking to the side. Most people, when they realize that the deck is stacked heavily in their favor, never bother to question why. It’s interesting. He’s not as dumb as I initially thought he was.
"It is," he admitted with a nod. "Just because something looks like gold doesn’t make it so."
"You are the only one who seems to know that there is a female either working with the Alliance or using them as a cover for her own benefit. Either way, she is forcing me to be involved. I hate it when I am in the light, and my enemy is secured in the darkness. I want to drag her kicking and screaming into the light. You are going to help me with that."
"That is all?" demanded the orc, raising one eyebrow. It was the first time I noticed the scar that cut through it.
"Did you catch the part where I am also planning the downfall of the Alliance?"
"Yes, I caught that part," smirked the orc.
"Then yeah, you’ve got the gist of it."
"And if I betray you and tell the Alliance your plan?" challenged the orc, his dead dropping a fraction of an inch, and his eyes seemed to glow with pain and anger.
I shrugged my shoulders and returned to my captain’s chair. Da’kea, now outed as a mate, grabbed the black fur and tucked it in around me before returning to his place beside Midnight. "Go ahead," I said once I was settled. "Whether they know or not makes no difference to me."
"You seem so sure," replied the orc, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
"Oh, I am," I laughed. "There is nothing anyone can do to stop me. I promise you that."
Looking at Jun Li, I nodded my head, and the communications link was abruptly cut off.
"You aren’t worried?" asked Ye’tab. I looked up at the male and smiled.
"Why should I be? In case anyone has forgotten, Jun Li is in their systems. If they try to send a message out to the Alliance or this mysterious female warning them about me, Jun Li will simply delete the message and then kill them. I don’t give second chances," I explained.
"And this is why it is so much fun working with you," laughed Jun Li. "No one could have ever seen someone like you coming."
"Isn’t that the point? I am the dark horse, the one that will change the outcome of everything, whether they want it or not. Oh, and Jun Li. I assume you have also guessed why I am encouraging you to infiltrate every system that you can?" I asked, raising my eyebrow, and I looked at the android sitting at his console.
"Is it for more than just getting you information?" he asked; the hesitant tone let me realize that while he could see the smaller pictures, he didn’t understand the larger one.
"It is. Now, even if this ship is destroyed, you are already uploaded into the Uugazts’ system. And if every last ship of theirs is destroyed, as well as this one, I am going to have you uploaded into Midnight’s system and Da’kea’s. Every ship you come in contact with, you are to leave a part of you in there."
"That way, no matter what happens, I will always survive," mused Jun Li, and I could see his eyes sparkling in delight. "I didn’t think about that."
